Short Courses
Sunday, May 16, 2010
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #1: Sustainable Floodplain Management through Stream Restoration
Presenters: Laura Wildman, P.E., Director of the New England Office, Princeton Hydro, Glastonbury, CT; James MacBroom, P.E., Senior VP, Milone & MacBroom, Cheshire, CT; Mike Kline, State River Management Scientist, VT DEC, River Corridor Management Section, Waterbury, VT ; Roy Schiff, Ph.D.; Milone & MacBroom, South Burlington, VT
This one-day course will cover a wide variety of natural flood management techniques
that can be utilized to attenuate flood flows while also restoring the self-sustaining functions of rivers and floodplains. The course will reinforce the principles of hydrology, hydraulics, river processes, and floodplain and wetland functions, as well as introduce
practical solutions and techniques to reduce flooding while re-establishing river function
and connectivity. The goal of the course is to help designers and planners achieve resilient
communities and healthy rivers in the face of escalating flooding challenges. Instructors are experts well-versed in sustainable solutions to flooding problems. They will share their experience and multiple examples on how best to reduce flooding while restoring healthy rivers.
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials, lunch, and networking breaks.
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #2: Economics and Benefits of Low Impact Development
Presenter: Jennifer Walker, P.E., D.WRE, CFM, President, Watearth, Inc., Houston, TX
Overview of LID
- Historical Approach
- Benefits of LID
- Peak Flows and Runoff Volume
- Outstanding Nationwide LID Examples and Photographs
Case Studies
- Site and Parking Lots
- Residential
- Roadways
- Watershed Level
Economics of LID
- EPA Cost Comparisons
- Other Cost Comparisons
- City-wide Cost Studies
- General Cost Data
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials and networking breaks.
1:00 - 5:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #3: Maintenance of Sustainable Stormwater Infrastructure
Presenter: Jennifer Walker, P.E., D.WRE, CFM, President, Watearth, Inc., Houston, TX
Overview of LID Integrated Management Practices
- Landscape-based Features
- Green Roofs
- Cisterns
Maintenance Requirements
- Soil Improvements
- Bio-retention
- Planter Boxes
- Vegetated Swales
- Vegetated Filter Strips
- Vegetated Buffers
- Level Spreaders
- Infiltration Trenches
- Dry Wells
- Permeable Pavement
- Green Roofs
- Cisterns
Maintenance Frequency
- Landscape-based Features
- Green Roofs
- Cisterns
- Range of Associated Costs
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials and networking breaks.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
8:00 am - 5:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #4: Principles of Streambank Analysis and Stability
Presenters: Andrew Simon, Research Geologist, Ph.D., USDAARS National Sedimentation Laboratory, Oxford, MS; Robert E. Thomas, Research Professor, Ph.D., Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
This one-day Short Course is designed for both public and private professionals
engaged in stream investigation, management, stabilization, and restoration. This course is designed to clearly demonstrate the essential links between channel instability and streambank erosion. The forces controlling streambank stability, analysis of these processes, and modeling of streambank stability with application to design of bank-stabilization projects will be covered. Students will be given and learn how to use
the "Bank-Stability and Toe-Erosion Model (BSTEM)" (Simon et al., 2000) for predicting
bank instability and designing stable bank geometries. Lectures will introduce the fundamental concepts linking streambank processes and geomorphic adjustments in the fluvial system. Modeling will provide students with the opportunity to investigate the factors controlling bank stability and understand their significance when designing mitigation measures. Students will be allowed to keep the bank-stability modeling software for future use.
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials, lunch, and networking breaks.
8:00 am - 12:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #5: So You Have Been Asked to Be an Expert Witness. Now What?
Presenters: David T. Williams, Ph.D., P.E., P.H., D.WRE, F.ASCE, President, David T. Williams and Associates, Engineers, LLC, Fort Collins, CO; Gary E. Freeman, Ph.D., P.E., J.D., D.WRE, President, River Research & Design, Inc., Gilbert, AZ
In today's litigious atmosphere, water resources professionals and/or their organizations are often involved in civil suits. Professionals are also often asked to be expert witnesses in civil suits and to provide services for mediations.
This interactive Short Course offers advice on how to conduct business so as to minimize exposure to possible legal actions and what to expect when asked to participate in the legal process from the perspective of an experienced expert witness. Also presented are discussions on ethical conduct, the role of the witness (expert or party to the case) in the legal process, how to handle one's self under pressure, and how to prepare for discovery, deposition, and trial. Other topics will help one be an ethical, effective, in control, and credible servant of the civil action process. Time permitting, scenarios will be presented for discussion.
A practicing engineer for more than 35 years, Dr. Williams has provided expert testimony
and assistance in court-related matters for more than 25 years. He will share what to
expect in the process from initial contact to trial. Dr. Freeman, a licensed attorney in the State of Arizona, has over 20 years of experience as an engineer and has served
as an expert witness on a number of cases. He brings both the perspective of an expert witness and an understanding of the law to the discussion.
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials and networking breaks.
1:00 - 5:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #6: Modeling of Flows in Combined Storm-sewer Systems
Presenter: Arturo Leon, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Boise State University, Boise, ID
The Short Course offers hands-on interactive training on the use of the Illinois Transient
Model (ITM) for analyzing the flow dynamics (transient and non-transient conditions) in combined storm-sewer systems. The ITM, originally developed at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is a state-of-the-art transient and non-transient model for simulating all possible flow conditions in storm-sewer systems. Recently, this model has been applied to the Chicago Tunnel and Reclamation Plan (TARP) system, which is one of the largest combined sewer systems in the world, for (1) optimizing the operation of the system; (2) assessing the impact of large inflows and operation of hydraulic structures on the formation and propagation of transient flows; and (3) finding the flow bottlenecks of the system. The ITM model is superior to other models of its kind because it is robust, can simulate mixed flows (simultaneous occurrence of free surface and pressurized flows) when using actual pressure wave celerities (~1000 m/s), and because no Preissmann slot assumption is made to simulate pressurized flows. The ITM model can handle complex boundary conditions such as dropshafts, reservoirs, and opening and closing of gates as a function of time and junctions with any number of connecting pipes and any vertical alignment. The graphical user interface of the ITM is similar to that of the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). The ITM model is an open source code (publicly available) and is in constant development by Dr. Leon and its releases are made available at both Boise State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The first two hours of this course will be allocated to fundamental concepts of flow dynamics on combined storm-sewer systems and mathematical and numerical details of the ITM model. The last two hours will focus on computer exercises to reinforce the concepts explained in the first two hours, to familiarize you with how to set up a model from scratch, and how to use the ITM model for a number of problems.
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials and networking breaks.
1:00 - 5:00 pm
SHORT COURSE #7: Removing Small Dams and Stream Barriers
Presenters: Laura Wildman, P.E., Director of the New England Office, Princeton Hydro, Glastonbury, CT; James MacBroom, P.E., Senior VP, Milone & MacBroom, Cheshire, CT; Brian Graber, Fluvial Geomorphologist, American Rivers, Northampton, MA; Mark Carabetta, Conservation Science Manager, Ontario Nature, Toronto, ON
This Short Course will cover many of the common engineering, geomorphic, ecological, and logistical issues associated with the removal of small dams and stream barriers from rivers. The instructors are national experts in dam removal and will share their expertise from numerous successfully completed small dam and barrier removal projects throughout the eastern United States. Topics will include the initiation and scoping of dam removal projects, as well as design approaches emphasizing sustainability and the restoration of natural processes, sediment management, assessment of aquatic species passage, site transition, channel restoration, construction techniques, the enhancement of ecological complexity, and the reduction of ecological impacts. The goal of the course is to advance the practice of barrier removal by helping engineers and scientists gain insight into the complexities of these projects, while demonstrating what practices have ensured the success of past dam and barrier removal projects and the restoration of self-sustaining riverine function.
See Registration Form for fees. Registration fee includes course materials and networking breaks.